Static
by Emme2589
Summary: Leah has a flash-back of scary memories - and falls into a panic-attack. Graphic depictions of mental illness, depression, and talk of a suicide attempt.


It didn't seem like anything was wrong. One moment, EVE #4 "Leah" was reading a book in her cozy armchair, turning the pages every couple of seconds. Then, something else caught her attention. A sound out the window.

It was harmless enough at first; some children playing outside. One of them made an off-handed remark;

"Stop! If you keep doing that, you'll fall!"

"Shut up! No one cares about me anyway!"

For some reason, Leah's eyes froze on the words of her story, one finger raised to turn the next page. She'd been so busy with her job as a social worker that she forgot about herself. How did people feel about her?

The book clattered to the ground as Leah's hands shook.

 _Leah?_ Chibi put his toothbrush away, running to the base of the armchair, _Leah! Can you hear me!?_

Her eyes were darting back and forth as she whimpered, grabbing her chest as if afraid her heart would stop. Chibi knew something was very wrong.

 _Rose!_ Chibi stumbled as he ran, using his radar to catch her attention, _Rose! Come here, quick!_

Leah's shaking was getting worse. Metal clanked loudly against metal as Leah clawed at her face, whimpering and crying. She began to see static on the corners of her vision, her HUD flashing a system overheat warning that she couldn't hear. A soft and steady ringing filled her ears as she descended into madness.

"Leah!" her sister Rose shook her gently, "Look at me! You have to breathe!"

Leah was trying to simulate some kind of breathing pattern, but her chest was locked up.

"Talk to me." Rose lifted her chin, "Stop! You're hurting yourself! What's wrong?"

"I-I-I..." Leah couldn't think around her voice chip, "I-I-I'm s-s-so-o w-worthle-ess..."

"No you're not! Stop it!" Rose hugged her sister tightly to hold her still. She spoke softly so as not to cause more panic, "Breathe, Leah. Breathe."

Chibi climbed up onto the armchair, _It's okay, Leah. We're here. Calm down._

Leah couldn't calm down though. She was drowning in her terror.

"Leah." Rose whispered right next to her ear, "We love you so much. I always smile when I see you working, and your heart is so pure and kind. You couldn't hurt a fly. We could never hurt you or abandon you. We could inever/i let you go. It's okay. Breathe. Shhh..."

Leah was afraid of going over the edge, but Rose's words and calming shushes eventually brought her back down. She let her breaths come in and out, her hot alloy cooling enough that the static went away.

Leah returned Rose's hug, _Commence system cooldown._

She was in cooldown for about fourteen minutes before her system was back to normal, all the while working towards a zen state. She let her arms relax around her sister.

"Better?" Rose asked.

Leah pulled away, slightly chilled, "Y-yeah. I'm fine now."

Rose cast a quick glanced at Chibi, "What triggered it?"

"S-some kids outside, I think. They-" Leah hiccuped, "One of them said no one cared for them, and it reminded me..."

"Oh no..." Rose stroked Leah's cheek, "It's okay. We all love you. You have as much worth as the rest of us, I promise."

"I-I know..." Leah leaned into Rose again, seeking more comfort, "I'm sorry...I'm such a bother..."

"No." Rose said firmly, "You are not a bother. I was happy to do this for you. Whatever I was doing before can wait. Family comes first. Okay?"

Leah beamed as she nodded, "Mmhmm!"

"Good. You can get back to your book now."

"I don't want to read anymore." Leah rose from her chair to hover away, "I'm going to take a nap."

"Actually, wait."

"What?"

Rose did a quick scan of Leah, her pink laser contrasting against Leah's orange eyes. The laser clicked off and Rose narrowed her eyes, "Your brain is unbalanced again."

Leah frowned sadly.

"Don't tell me you've been so distracted that you let your depression come back." she scolded, "I'm giving you a shot of that before you go to sleep."

"Okay." Leah replied. She didn't want to be sad after all.

Rose fished the mood conductor out of one of their cabinets, which was designed to trick the brain into thinking it was happy by feeding it the correct chemical. It was short and had a soft glowy part on the end. Rose clicked it and held it to Leah's temple, listening to it's subtle beeps.

"There." Rose put the thing away, "You can take a nap now."

"Okay. Thank you." Leah stretched her arms before she left.

 _Hey, Rose._ Chibi crossed his legs on the countertop, _Why does that happen to Leah?_

Rose sighed, "It's a long story." she placed her head in her hands as she leaned against the counter, "You're aware that her brain has an imbalance of three chemicals?"

 _Yeah._

"It's so bad that it's almost impossible for her to be happy on her own. We ran a test to see how bad it was, and the happy chemical was floating around at zero percent." she explained.

 _And then she attempted to take her own life?_

"And then you saved her. I can't thank you enough for that, by the way." she continued, "So we found a 'cure' for her depression, but sometimes she gets flashbacks of when she tried to kill herself and it gives her a panic attack. Water is violent on machines, and that's very apparent in her still. I just wish I saw it coming sooner..."

 _There's no way you could have known._ Chibi reassured.

"I know, but...it still hurts..." Rose shook her head, "Anyway, all we can do now is help her, and pray for her."

Chibi felt his eyes curve up into a smile, _I can do that._

"Yeah?" she giggled, "Maybe one day you could stop one of her panic attacks before they happen!"

He scoffed, _I doubt it..._

"You never know." she pointed out, "Anyway, I'm going back to work. Keep an eye on Leah?"

 _Of course._

Chibi watched Rose disappear before looking towards Leah's bedroom.

 _You never know..._ he echoed. He then proceeded to jump back down so he could resume his chores.


End file.
